There are significant business opportunities in the mobile broadband space in building an ecosystem of affordable mobile devices to support user migration to 4G and 5G cellular network technology. This was the message that emerged from the 5th Huawei Africa Mobile Broadband Meeting, which took place at the online Africacom Africa Tech Festival from the 9th to the 12th of this month, in the city of Johannesburg.
According to the note that Notícias de Angola had access to this Friday, it points out that delegates understood that the ICT industry has never been so important for society and that it is now at the forefront of social development and the restoration of economies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 19.
“Connectivity is the basis of digital transformation”, said the meeting facilitator, Mohamed Madkour, vice president, Business Marketing and Carrier Solutions at Huawei. “It’s time we address mobile connectivity not just in terms of speed, capacity or coverage, but also in terms of accessibility, price, convenience and ecosystem value.”
The event realized that, according to GSM, the number of 4G users in Africa was expected to triple in the next five years, with population coverage increasing from 55% today to 80% in 2025.
“Universal connectivity in Africa needs proactive collaboration from all stakeholders to develop profitable businesses and also encourage investment,” says Mohamed Madkour.
Roy Zheng, Director of Overseas Business Development, one of the semiconductor manufacturers, highlights that since the pandemic, the demand for educational tablets has exploded. To meet this demand, his company was producing chipsets that enable the production of tablets with prices starting at 48 US dollars.
“The adoption of more effective technology at a lower cost can lead to adoption of 4G”, says Roy Zheng. “We can provide chipsets for mobile phones priced from US$31, which could be ideal entry-level smartphones for the 4G migration.”
At this same meeting, Lin Ranhao, CEO of smartphone and tablet manufacturer Tele 1, said that over the next few years, the fastest growth in the 4G user base will probably come from Africa.
Ranhao reiterated that Africa has many 2G users waiting to switch to 4G, but that, despite the ready infrastructure, 4G penetration is still relatively slow. Suggesting ways to resolve this, Ranhao made an analogy with China, which encouraged the production and purchase of electric vehicles through subsidies.
“If converting from 2G to 4G is such an urgent task for operators, we must adopt a more proactive strategy and drive this process through subsidies. After all, bundling carrier plans with subsidized devices is a common practice around the world.”
Ranhao said subsidy programs combined with competitively priced entry-level devices would lower the threshold for first-time smartphone buyers, accelerate 4G migration and open up great opportunities for business and human development.
“The demand and supply sides are important pillars of the mobile broadband business”, argues Mohamed Madkour. “Infrastructure and spectrum represent the supply side, while services and the ecosystem are the demand side. We can drive consumer businesses forward by showing the value of partnerships across device ecosystems and accessible content services.”
Huawei is a leading provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices globally.